


What We Did on our Summer Vacation

by stellarmeadow



Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-22
Updated: 2018-09-27
Packaged: 2019-07-15 15:19:51
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 2,637
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16065872
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stellarmeadow/pseuds/stellarmeadow
Summary: Snippets of a week in Steve and Danny's summer.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is my S9 countdown to cope with the last week of waiting before new episodes. Why I’m doing this to myself when the coda series is about to eat my free time, IDK, but apparently I need it. Hope it helps everyone else cope, too. :)
> 
> Note: One chapter per day until the season premiere. :) 
> 
> And thanks to all the people who gave me prompts - it helped so much to create this!

“Aloha and good evening. Hawaiian Airlines flight 4, with non-stop service to Los Angeles International Airport, is now available for preboarding. Those passengers with small children or needing a little extra time to board, please board through gate C4. Mahalo.”

Danny stood up, holding Charlie’s hand. “That’s us,” he said, looking at Steve, then at Grace. “Grace, tell Will goodbye and put that thing away.”

Steve could picture the eye-roll that went with the sigh, but Grace tapped out a few more words, then stood up, shoving her phone into her pocket. “See?” Steve said quietly, as he fell in behind Danny, his mouth close to Danny’s ear, “even Grace knows that Hawaii is better than Jersey.”

Danny glanced over his shoulder, his glare ruined by the light in his eyes at the familiar ‘argument.’ “Well, if you don’t want to go in the middle of summer,” Danny said, as he handed his ticket to the gate agent, “next time we can go in January.”

“Um...no,” Steve said, shuddering at the thought. “I’ve spent enough cold winters, thank you.” 

“Then don’t bitch about going in July,” Danny said. 

Unable to find a logical argument to counter, Steve followed silently as they made their way to row 14. They shoved their carry ons into the overhead bin before Danny assigned seats, Steve on the far aisle, Grace next to him, then Charlie while Danny took the near aisle. 

Steve shook his head at the deliberate arrangement. “Always the protective cop, huh?” he said, over the kids’ heads.

“Protective father,” Danny corrected. “I only became a cop so I’d know the best ways to protect them.” 

Which wasn’t entirely true--Danny was a natural protector in so many ways--but it wasn’t exactly a lie, either, so Steve let it go in favor of wondering what kind of reception they’d get in New Jersey.

Danny hadn’t told his parents about the recent...changes in his relationship with Steve. But Clara was far from stupid. Plus, the only reason Danny had been able to keep it quiet was because of distance--Danny would cave in less than a minute if his mother gave him a certain look Steve had seen a few times already.

Steve couldn’t have cared less. Well, okay, fine, maybe there might have been a couple of nightmares of Danny’s parents kicking them out of the house, but in his waking moments, he couldn’t see it happening. 

He had not, however, asked Danny why he hadn’t told his parents yet. If Danny was nervous about it, Steve didn’t want to make it worse.

If it was any other reason, Steve wasn’t in a hurry to find that out. 

“Hey.”

Steve glanced over at Danny, who was watching him with a soft smile that still made Steve’s stomach flip a little, and certain lower regions do a bit more than flip. “Yeah?”

“Stop it.” 

Steve frowned. “Stop what?”

“You’ve got the ‘I left the oven on’ face. You didn’t leave the oven on, so neither it, or anything on this trip, will blow up on you, okay?”

Which was Danny-speak for ‘stop worrying.’ Steve took a long breath, glanced at the kids, then said, “You haven’t said anything to your parents.” 

“No. Because I want to do it in person. Why do you think I was so adamant about going to Jersey for vacation?”

It was suddenly a lot easier to breathe. “Oh,” Steve said.

“Oh,” Danny mocked, his voice as soft as his eyes. 

Steve rolled his eyes. “Shut up, Danno.” 

***


	2. Chapter 2

“Do they ever sleep at the same time?” Steve asked, bouncing Joan up and down on his leg, hoping maybe that would eventually knock her out.

“Of course not,” Danny said. He glanced at Charlie, sound asleep on the love seat nearby. “Matt and Bridget were only 2 years apart, and it was like they had a planned schedule. Drove Mom crazy.”

Steve paused in his leg bouncing, and held his breath as Joan knuckle her eyes. She yawned widely before frowning at Steve. “Horsey!”

He started bouncing again, ignoring the amusement Danny wasn’t even trying to hide.This time, though, Joan’s eyes drifted closed and she slumped onto his chest, asleep at last. 

“So,” Steve said, shifting Joan to a more comfortable position, strangely comforted by the warm weight. “I told Mary this morning. About us.”

Danny’s expression didn’t change, but he went very still, and his breathing suddenly sounded a little constricted. “What did she say?” he asked in a voice that almost passed for normal.

“She punched me in the shoulder and asked if I thought she was a blind idiot.”

Danny’s laugh woke Joan, who instantly demanded, “Horsey!” as Charlie started asking for ice cream from the love seat.

***


	3. Chapter 3

They’d barely even made it inside the Williams’ house before Clara was pulling them into hugs and then into the kitchen. 

“Leave the luggage,” she said, as she led them to the table. “We’ll get it in a minute.” 

She got drinks for everyone, refusing any help, but insisting that Grace and Charlie tell them everything they’d done so far on the trip. By the time they were done, Steve was halfway through his coffee. 

“Oh,” Clara’s eyes were on her coffee, her tone too casual to actually be casual. “We replaced the twin beds in Danny’s old room with a queen,” she said, carefully omitting the fact that the room had been Matt’s as well. “The old ones were falling apart. That means you two,” she said, nodding at Steve and Danny, “will have to share it, unless one of you wants the couch?”

Steve glanced at Danny, who was studying his coffee like he was trying to read his future in it. “We’ll make it work,” Steve said, giving Clara the most innocent look he could manage. “Danny’s so small I won’t even notice he’s there.”

She laughed, but something in her eyes made Steve look away before she read anything there she shouldn’t.

***


	4. Chapter 4

Steve woke with Danny curled into him, his head on Steve’s arm right below the pillow. Just the feel of Danny in his arms, the heat that always seemed to radiate off him like a furnace, and the smell that Steve could recognize in his sleep was enough to have Steve’s body showing immediate interest in a lot of things they could not do in Danny’s parents’ house.

Which meant Steve should get out of bed. 

He moved, and Danny frowned, eyes half opening. “Wha go?”

Steve stifled a laugh. “I’m just going to go for a run,” Steve said. “Go back to sleep.” 

“K. Garage unlock. G’out that way.”

Steve kissed Danny on the forehead and climbed out of bed. He threw on shorts and a t-shirt and crept silently down the stairs and out the garage. He kept it to a short run, a mile out and a mile back, just enough to make him feel less guilty for all the food he would likely be eating later. 

The smell of coffee drew him into the kitchen when he returned. Clara was standing over the coffee maker with a cup, watching the last of the coffee filling the pot. 

She glanced up at Steve with a smile. “Want some?” she asked.

“Please.” 

She got another cup out as the coffee finished brewing, poured a cup for him and then hers. Steve leaned against the island in the middle of the kitchen, and took a sip. 

“No cream or sugar?” she asked, eyeing him over the edge of her mug.

“Not today.” He took another sip. “I hope I didn’t wake you up when I left.”

Clara shook her head. “I’ve never been able to sleep in.” 

“Danny definitely did not get that from you,” Steve said, before he realized how that might sound. “It takes him ten rings to answer the phone if I have to call him early for a case,” Steve said. 

“Really?” Clara said, eyebrows up. “Wouldn’t it be easier just to reach over beside you and poke him until he wakes up?”

Steve choked on his coffee. “Um...I, uh….” He coughed again. “I didn’t realize Danny had told you yet.”

Clara laughed. “Oh, honey, squeaky clean glass is less transparent than you two.” 

“Oh. I uh, I mean….”

She laughed again. “You think I haven’t known since that first time you two picked me up at the airport? Driving his car. Really.” She took a sip of coffee. “Though really, I suspected before that. Nobody can rile Danny up that much unless he’s in love with him. It’s like a prerequisite for him actually falling in love in the first place.”

“We weren’t together then, though,” Steve said. “I mean, it’s only been a month.” 

“I’d be surprised,” Clara said, “but men do tend to be really stupid about these things”

His ears were burning, likely bright pink as well, but she didn’t comment on that. “We were going to tell you,” he said. “Danny wanted to wait until we came out here and do it in person.” 

“And he can still tell me,” she said. “We don’t have to deprive him of that.” She looked like she was enjoying the thought of it. “I just wanted you to stop looking like you were about to be shot.” Her smile softened. “And that I’m happy seeing him happy.” 

Steve snorted. “Danny’s never been happy a day in his life.” 

“Oh, yes, he has. He’s happy pretty much every time I see him with the kids and with you.” 

“That’s because I give him an endless list of things to bitch about.” 

Clara laughed again. “See? You’ve figured out the secret to a successful marriage--know how to keep your husband happy!”

***


	5. Chapter 5

Steve dug his fingernails into his legs, stealing another glance at the speedometer on the other side of the car and biting his tongue. 

“I see that,” Danny said, as the car slowed a little more. “I see that, and I know what you’re thinking, and I feel the need to remind you that this is New Jersey, not Hawaii. We do not have full immunity and means here, Steven. Ergo, we cannot drive like it’s the Indy 500 and we’re after gun runners.”

“I don’t think a lot of gun runners race in the Indy 500, Danny.” 

Danny shot him a look. “What I’m saying is that I can see you barely restraining yourself from grabbing the wheel and jumping on top of me to take over driving, and it is not happening.”

While the idea of jumping Danny was incredibly attractive--five days of sleeping together with no sex had Steve wondering where the nearest motel was that charged by the hour--Danny knew where he was going. And Steve knew they were on 280, and he was pretty sure they were still in Jersey, but that was the extent of his knowledge.

Maybe he should change the subject. 

“So that last restaurant was pretty good,” Steve said.

Danny held out a hand, making a see-sawing motion. “The bread was store bought, the pasta wasn’t made in house, and I’d bet money the red sauce used canned tomatoes.”

“We’ve been to six Italian restaurants in two days--for which, I might add, I am going to have to swim to Maui and back to offset the calories-and you have bitched about every one of them.”

“I didn’t bitch,” Danny said. “I was critiquing to make sure we don’t make the same mistakes.”

“Okay, we’ll go with that,” Steve said, looking out the window so Danny wouldn’t see his grin. “Speaking of going--where are we going?” 

“You’ll see,” Danny said, the same answer he’d given five times already.

At least asking got him to speed up the car.

***

They were on a rather deserted stretch of road seemingly in the middle of nowhere when Danny slowed down and pulled off on a shoulder area, parking beside a low wall. He shut off the engine and got out, so Steve followed suit. 

He reached Danny as he stopped, looking down over the hill. For most of the last ten miles, the view had been largely trees, but here there was a clearing that featured a view of city lights in the distance, so small they were more like stars than lights. 

It felt a little like the edge of the world, and it reminded Steve in some way of Danny’s favorite thinking spot in Hawaii. 

“A month after Rachel and me split up,” Danny said, arms folded over his chest as he stared out at the tiny twinkling lights, “I’d been moping around in my shitty hotel room every night, and Matt has been listening. But that night, he all but yanked me off the bed and threw me into the car and drove up here.”

The familiar ache was evident in Danny’s voice, the one he got every time he spoke of Matt. “He told me that if I wanted to waste away to nothing, drinking myself to death in a no-star motel, then I might as well just end it right here. Just jump. End it. Right now.” 

Danny shoved his hands in his pockets. “Obviously that was out of the question. I had Grace--I wouldn’t leave her, and I said so. So Matt said, ‘Then get off your ass and figure out how to move on.’”

That it hadn’t been quick or easy didn’t need to be said--Steve had met Danny while he’d still been in the middle of that process. But he’d moved on, something Steve woke up every day grateful for.

Steve shifted to the side a little, until his arm was pressed against Danny’s. After a moment, Danny leaned in.

***


	6. Chapter 6

“Be good,” Danny said, giving Grace a hug. He hugged Charlie, adding, “I’ll see you this weekend.” 

Steve got hugs as well, and the two of them left Rachel’s house, Danny’s eyes on the wing mirror as Steve drove away. 

In the early days of their friendship, Steve had searched for the right words to console Danny every time he’d had to take Grace back to Rachel. He’d tried dealing with it head on, he’d tried reminders that he’d see her soon, but nothing had work.

It had taken him almost a year to understand that no words would work. 

Danny wasn’t John McGarrett. He couldn’t send his kids off because of duty or a custody agreement or anything and keep a stiff upper lip about it. 

In hindsight, that realization was probably when he actually fell for Danny Williams.

“What?” Danny asked.

“Hm?”

Danny waved a hand in the direction of Steve’s face. “What’s with the smile?”

Steve shook his head. “Just...thinking about the trip. It was nice.” He glanced at Danny. “For Jersey.”

“Jerk.”

The rest of the drive was silent. Danny followed Steve into his house, dropping his bags by Steve’s next to the stairs. The room was almost dark in the fading sunset, but Danny knew his way around and made it to the couch without a problem.

He sat down hard, like he’d just had his strings cut and couldn’t stay upright anymore. Steve dropped his keys on the table by the door and followed, sitting down more carefully, close enough that they were lightly pressed against each other. 

Danny leaned into the Steve, that warmth that Steve found peace in flowing through him, as always. Danny let his head fall onto Steve’s shoulder. Steve reached down for Danny’s hand, lacing their fingers together.

“I’m sorry,” Steve said quietly. “I know it’s rough, having been home and having to leave.” 

Danny rubbed his cheek against Steve’s shoulder and squeezed his hand. “I’m still home,” he said, settling more firmly against Steve’s side.

\---  
END

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to everyone for sticking with me for the last week. This was a nice way to lead up to the season, and a nice way for me to get into the practice of writing again before the... *gulp* Coda series!
> 
> Note: This story has absolutely nothing to do with the coda series. Tomorrow night the boys go right back to trying really hard not to admit they totally want to jump each other. 
> 
> SEASON NINE TOMORROW! WOOOO!


End file.
